For BBQ in Columbia, try Little Pigs BBQ. It's out on Alpine road (between I-20 and Percival road) behind the Blue Cross Blue Shield building. Excellent All-u-can-eat buffett. They even BBQ a couple of shoulders and put them out and you can pull off as much meat as you want. They have several types of BBQ pork (Mustard, Vinegar, Tomato/Ketchup) and some of the best fried chicken I've tasted.

You also might want to try Palmetto Pig. It's on Green St. just off Blossom near the corner of Blossom and Huger. They have an excellent buffett as well.

I can't recommend Bo-B-Que in Cayce. I was not impressed. Also I recently tried a new BBQ place called DOC's BBQ on Shop road. I was not impressed with them either.

There are a few other places around. Some more if you want to take a side trip. But the two above are my favorites in Columbia. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either one.

It's been a while (several years actually) since I've been to Columbia but Little Pigs was always very good. If, as scbuzz says, you feel like taking a side trip Shealy's in Batesburg-Leesville is a buffet-style 'Q place that was always packed, and for good reason, when I was there. The thing about BBQ is we all have our favorites and we all think our places are the best and other places are awful.* I suggest you try them all and report back (even better -- bring us back some samples!)

-----*The truth is most of them are pretty good, at least to this Yankee.

Little Pigs is great. If you're on the Lexington side of town, try Hudson's. It's on Hwy 378. Excellent barbeque--all 3 sauce types-and their hash is wonderful! They also have really good fried catfish.If you have time to make the trek to Shealy's, it is well worth the ride. Their fried chicken is as good as the barbeque! Make sure to ask your waitress for some "pully bones". Shealy's cuts their own chickens so that you can still get the wishbone. You just have to ask for them--they aren't on the buffet. Shealy's vegetables, especially the green beans and corn, are awesome. They usually close the week after July 4, so check to make sure they're open.Are there other types of food you are particularly looking for?

As soon as I saw the subject line, I was going to recommend Little Pigs, but I see that I've been beaten to it. And although I haven't eaten at Shealy's, I've had their sauce (you can order it online) and it was very good.

Make that Sesquicentennial State Park. The Maurice's on Two Notch is one of his branch restaurants--the original is in West Columbia. I personally would stick with Little Pigs or Hudson's--better q without the political problems.

I've been to both Shealy's and Hudson's in the last month and I'd have to give the nod to Hudson's right now. It's on 378 in Lexington (off I-20), next to the paintball joint (eyeroll). Their barbecue chicken is to die for and it's nice having good examples of the three 'school' sauces at the same place to put on your pork. Plus I'd make a meal by itself out of their baked beans and french fries, and you can't say that about a lot of barbecue joints. Plus Hudson's just put up a new dining room--it used to be carryout only--and it's quite nice. Getting to be really busy though, so plan on a wait. Shealy's is still good--a plateful of the green beans and a piece of chicken is what I crave--but it's a haul if you're short on time. If you've got an evening to kill, do Shealy's and then drive 10 miles or so further to Monetta for the Big Mo drive-in movie. Never been to Little Pig's. The Palmetto Pig was not good the last time I was there. Don't let any of the Maurice's apologists fool you. He's not only a public embarassment, his food hasn't been good for years. If you're ever in the Charleston area, check out a Melvin's (Folly Road, Mt. Pleasant in front of the Whole Foods or Rivers Ave.). Maurice's cousin's food's always been better, and he's not an embarassment.

Lessee, if you're in the microbrewery mood, you should go to the Hunter-Gatherer on College and Main (behind the State House) downtown. The food is excellent--black bean hummus! Yum! I also love Cafe Strudel on State Street in West Columbia, within shouting distance of the Gervais St. bridge--wonderful breakfast, lunch, Sunday brunch--the Kyle's Special sandwich or bagel, depending on your time of day. For Mexican, try Casa Linda on Forest Drive--best salsa in town--or Taqueria Jalisco in the Ashland Park shopping center on St. Andrews Rd. They make a pollo con arroz soup, really simple, with lots of cilantro and chopped avocado, that is perfect for supper in the summers when you don't want to eat a lot. I'm also fond of the Blue Cactus in Five Points--Korean-Tex-Mex menu (!) with cocked-eyebrow service.

Fast food, you cannot go wrong with Rush's, Zesto's (Triangle City especially), or Zaxby's, which is a regional chicken-finger-wing chain. I'd also add Groucho's for melted-cheese-turkey-ham sandwiches served with dip.

We really don't have good pizza. There's a new NY-style joint on Harden St. in Five Points but they need a little more time to sink in.

Fast food, you cannot go wrong with Rush's, Zesto's (Triangle City especially), or Zaxby's, which is a regional chicken-finger-wing chain. I'd also add Groucho's for melted-cheese-turkey-ham sandwiches served with dip.

Yes!!! Zesto's in West Columbia was a real Roadfood-style trip-and-a-half if my memory serves me right. Definitely worth checking out. There's a picture of the building here: http://www.agilitynut.com/p/angelo404.jpg At least stop for dessert.

The people I used to work with in Columbia loved Groucho's, though I don't think I ever made it there myself.

Also I just remembered there's a place called "Whataburger" in West Columbia that's totally unaffiliated with the big Texas chain. You might be interested in checking it out as a curiosity or if collecting visits to small chains is something you're into. Honestly I went there once and I don't remember the burger as being anything special but locals would know better than me.

That picture is actually of the North Main Angelo's Zesto, which is also good. Sadly, Mr. Angelo passed away this year. I think most folks around here would agree that the Triangle City/West Columbia one (straight up Zesto's--look for the giant fiberglass ice cream cone) is the best. Don't miss the fried chicken, or the nut rolled ice cream cones. That's a great website for roadfood type joint pictures, by the way.

The Whataburger is still there and also a place I've never stuck my head in, but I know people who swear by it. It's within a mile of the Triangle City Zesto's--on Augusta Highway.

Edited to add: the best Chinese in town right now is at Sun Ming on Woodrow St. in Irmo. Don't forget to ask for the traditional menu as well as the regular--it's got some great stuff on it.

Okay, it's where 12th Street crosses 602/21, about a block from where the Augusta Highway or US1 crosses 12th Street. It's called Triangle City because it's where a couple of streets come together in such a way to make a triangle . . duh, and Zesto's is sitting in the triangle. There's a place called Bogart's that shares the building, and a place called Rincon across 12th Street (that's also supposed to be good from what I hear). If you go further down 12th to Knox Abbott, you run into a Krispy Kreme, if you just want to complete the myocardial infarction trifecta.

Zesto's: you go in the storefront, order, and then you have to go back out and enter the dining room from a separate entrance. They come and find you with your food. Also, cash only. I get the 'white snack' (two pieces of chicken, white, usually a breast and a wing, with fries, rolls and a really simple and good cole slaw) or the 'wing snack' (same thing, four wings). And a bottomless sweet tea. Cheeseburgers are great too. And the milkshakes. If you're feeding a bunch of people, you can get a 12 piece bucket for about $20 that comes with a big container of slaw, a bag of rolls, and another bucket of fries. It's a great deal.

I'm from Columbia and recommend Hite's BBQ in West Columbia, right off of Platt Springs Road. There's no dining inside - it's take out only. It's a little white building right past Blockbuster Video. My family has been going to Hite's for years and we know the Hite family.

In the interest of completeness I checked out Little Pigs' buffet for lunch today, and I'd still have to recommend either Shealy's or Hudson's over it. The pork was quite good--they serve it pre-sauced--and they have all three 'schools' on the line; the tomato-based was good. Since I've only been this once, I have no idea if the small, impressive things--excellent beer-battered onion rings, seemingly homemade bread and butter pickles on the dessert cart (?), good dirty rice and hash--are always there or not. Chicken, both fried and barbecued, was just meh. Good, tangy baked beans. Cute dining hall.

If you're checking out any of these places, make sure to call ahead to see if you're going to miss the summer vacation--Little Pigs will be closed July 12th through the 15th. Shealy's keeps a recording (803 532 8135) of their hours. Hudson's, I would assume, doesn't observe the summer vacation but I think they're closed on Mondays.

Thanks folks- I appreciate the info- we proabaly won't have alot of meals to fill in between the rehearsal dinner Friday, the wedding Aaturday, the brunch Sunday and the birthday party Sunday night ( Can you say control top pantyhose?) but I do want to get one BBQ meal in and know all about Mauricce and his somewhatshall we say, controversial musings. Thanks for the info- I'll post when we return.

Heee! Thanks jackd! To give you the very latest of what I know, Hudson's Smokehouse now has a location in Harbison but being as their satellite went bad before and the main place is just spotty now, I'd still suggest going out to the Hwy 378 location in Lexington if you can't get out of town to go to Shealy's. My only beef with Hudson's now is that they're doing way too much--relying heavily on the buffet and becoming a credible alternative to all the chain dining in suburban Lexington--rather than sticking to the fundamentals that they do well.

One more recent update; I've had a couple of incredible meals at a place on Gervais in the Vista called Mojito's--all Cuban style food. Both times, the food was insanely good--several variations on the Cuban sandwich, empanadas, beans and rice, and somebody's grandma seems to be making dessert. Yum.

A new discovery. Right now if I were asked for the best barbecue in town, I would direct folks to True BBQ in the Triangle City neighborhood of West Columbia. We've eaten there on two consecutive Thursdays now, and I would say that in some departments, the food is better than Shealy's. Yeah, I said it. The chicken is smoked so delicately . . well, I'll just show you:

That's the chicken, alongside very good (they made it) cole slaw and the most talented grandma's collard greens, and hash and rice that might be the best in the state. They say it is, and I don't think they're lying. The barbecue purists will be happy to hear that all the meat is served unsauced, with your choice of extremely fine examples of the three schools of southern barbecue:

They call their mustard sauce "Pretty Lady" and their red sauce "Sexy Lady" and you have a very good, not too pungent vinegar/pepper sauce in between. Here is another plate of chopped pork and a couple of ribs:

The ribs were the best in town, easily. The pork on both visits was just a teensy bit dry; I would suspect this is from being late in the day. They're only open Thursday to Saturday as is the norm for barbecue joints nearby, but I don't know of a place near Columbia where the sides are this solid. The potato salad is excellent. If you got a hankering for some smoked stuff, go give them a try.